Shutdown is wrong

As a private citizen, a veteran and a proud member of the American Federation of Government Employees, I would like to inform you about the value government employees bring to our community. I am an employee of the Transportation Security Administration in Santa Barbara and I have dedicated my life’s work to securing public transportation for people and commerce.

Every day, my co-workers and I do our job providing much-needed services for the American taxpayer, yet we face constant attacks from political insiders looking to cut our pay, retirement and jobs.

Now, thanks to a shutdown that began Dec. 22, over 800,000 federal workers and their families are wondering how we will put gas in the car, pay the rent,and feed their children. Over 85 percent of federal government employees live outside the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area — including many of us who live right here in Ventura County. This shutdown is causing pain in every corner of our nation.

It’s wrong to shut down the government and hold government workers’ paychecks hostage over a policy dispute. Many of us put our lives on the line in dangerous jobs. We are 800,000 real people with real lives and real responsibilities.

We just want to reopen the government and get back to serving the American public.

Editor: The author is legislative/political coordinator of AFGE Local 1260, AFL-CIO.

Erich R. Schmidt, Ventura

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